Although some remarkable achievements have been
made with shortwave low power transmitters, radio experts and
amateurs have recently decided that shortwave transmission had
reached its ultimate and hat no vital improvement would be
made in this line. A short time ago, however, two young
European experimenters working with ultra-short waves, have
made a discovery that promises to be of primary importance to
the scientific world.

The discovery was made about six weeks ago in a
newly established central laboratory of the
Neuuartadline-Werke in Darreskein, Poland, by Dr Kowsky and
Engineer Frost. While experimenting with the constants of very
short waves, carried on by means of quartz resonators, a piece
of quartz which was used, showed a clearly altered appearance.
It was easily seen that in the center of the crystal,
especially when a constant temperature not exceeding 10 C / 50
F was maintained, milky cloudiness appeared which gradually
developed to complete opacity. The experiments of Dr Meissner,
of the Telefunken Co,, along similar lines, according to which
quartz crystals, subjected to high frequency currents clearly
showed air currents which ld to the construction of
little motor based on this principle. A week of eager
experimenting finally led Dr Kowsky and Engineer Frost to the
explanation of the phenomenon, and further experiments showed
the unexpected possibilities for technical uses of the
discovery.

Some statements must precede the explanation. It
is known at last in part, that quartz and some other crystals
of similar atomic nature have the property when exposed to
potential excitation in a definite direction, of stretching
and contracting; and if one uses rapidly changing potentials,
the crystals will change the electric waves into mechanical
oscillations. This piezo-electric effect, shown in Rochelle
salt crystals by which they may be made into sound-producing
devices such as loud-speakers, or reversely into microphones,
also show the results in this direction. This effect was
clearly explained in August 1925 Radio News and
December 1919 Electrical Experimenter. These
oscillations are extremely small, but have nevertheless their
technical use in a quartz crystal wave meter and in
maintaining a constant wavelength in radio transmitters. By a
special arrangement of the excitation of the crystal in
various directions, it may be made to stretch or increase in
length and will not return to its original size. It seems as
if a dispersal of electrons from a molecule resulted which, as
it is irreversible, changes the entire structure of the
crystal so that it cannot be restored to its former condition.

The stretching out, as we may term this strange
property of the crystal, explains the impairment of its
transparency. At the same time a change takes place in its
specific gravity. Testing it on the balance showed that after
connecting the crystal to the high tension current, the arm of
the balance on which the crystal with the electrical
connections rests, rose into the air. The illustration, Fig.
3, shows this experiment.

This pointed the way for further investigation
and the determination of how far the reduction of the specific
gravity could be carried out. B the use of greater power,
finally to the extent of several kilowatts and longer exposure
to the action, it was found eventually that from a little
crystal, 5 by 2 by 1.5 millimeters. A non-transparent white
body measuring about 10 centimeters on the side resulted, or
increased about 20 times in length on any side (See Fig. 4).
The transformed crystal was so light that it carried the whole
apparatus with itself upwards, along with the weight of 25
kilograms (55 lb) suspended from it and floating free in the
air. On exact measurement and calculation, which on account of
the excellent apparatus in the Darredein laboratory could be
readily carried out, it was found that the specific gravity
was reduced to a greater amount than the change in volume
would indicate. Its weight had become practically negative.

There can be no doubt that a beginning has been
made toward overcoming gravitation. It is to be noted,
however, that the law of conservation of energy is absolutely
unchanged. The energy employed in treating the crystal,
appears as the counter effect of gravitation. Thus the riddle
of gravitation is not fully solved as yet, and the progress of
experiments will be followed further. It is, however, the
first time that experimentation with gravitation which
hitherto has been beyond the pale of all such research, has
become possible, and it seems as if there were a way
discovered at last to explain the inter-relations of gravity
with electric and magnetic forces, which connection, long
sought for, has never been demonstrated. This report appears
in a reliable German journal, Radio Umschau.